The body of John F. Kennedy Jr. was discovered 116 feet below the Atlantic Ocean on the fourth day of a massive search operation, mere hours before the team had begun to consider calling off the effort, according to the mission’s leader.
Following the disappearance of John F. Kennedy Jr.’s plane on the night of July 16, 1999, the U.S. government initiated one of the largest maritime searches ever conducted for private citizens. The operation spanned 100 nautical miles between Cape Cod and Long Island and involved thousands of personnel from at least 28 agencies.
As the exhausting and fruitless search entered its fourth day, officials began planning an exit strategy. However, at that critical juncture, high-tech sonar scanners located Kennedy's body on the ocean floor. His remains were found approximately 10 feet from the wreckage, which still contained the bodies of his wife, Carolyn Bessette, and her sister, Lauren. The discovery occurred about seven miles off the southwest coast of Martha's Vineyard.
"John F. Kennedy Jr. was outside the aircraft, and there was a consideration that had another day passed, that in the 1.6-knot current, that he might’ve been swept away," said Coast Guard Capt. W. Russell "Russ" Webster, the incident commander for the search operations. "They might have never found him had another day gone by," added his wife, maritime historian Theresa Mitchell Webster, who co-authored the book "The Last Flight: The Untold Story of the Search for JFK Jr. and the Race Against the Atlantic."
The following morning, five days after the crash of the Saratoga II, which Kennedy, 38, was piloting in dense haze, divers recovered all three bodies. Carolyn, 33, and Lauren, 34, were identified by their distinct hair colors, as the National Transportation Safety Board forensic anthropologist determined they were not facially recognizable.
The trio had been traveling from Caldwell, New Jersey, to Martha's Vineyard for Kennedy's cousin Rory's wedding. Kennedy was operating under visual flight rules, meaning his plane was not being tracked by the FAA. He was confident in navigating by landmarks like lighthouses and factories, having made the trip 35 times before. However, he had not yet completed his instrument training, having finished only 12 of the 25 modules required for his certified flight instructor certification. A certified flight instructor had advised him on July 1, just 15 days prior to the flight, that he needed more instrument experience.
Kennedy's lack of instrument experience may have hindered his ability to fly in poor visibility and potentially caused spatial disorientation. The National Transportation Safety Board report indicated the plane fell at a rate of 4,700 feet per minute. At that speed and altitude, impacting the water would have been similar to hitting cement.
The search and recovery effort was a race against time, not only to find the bodies and the plane but also to recover personal belongings before they could be scavenged by marine life. The operation, estimated to have cost up to $5 million, involved thousands of personnel and significant resources.
The Websters spent 15 years researching and writing "The Last Flight," conducting nearly 45 interviews. Many individuals initially reluctant to speak became more forthcoming after retiring from federal service and reflecting on the importance of telling the story. During the mission, the Coast Guard received numerous unusual calls, including claims that Kennedy was alive and in an AOL chat room, and a fax from a spiritual organization analyzing their "magnetic auras."